Psalm 104 is a creation psalm that celebrates God as both Creator and Sustainer of all life. Unlike Genesis which focuses on the act of creation, Psalm 104 emphasizes God’s ongoing care—showing how He continually provides water, food, and order to sustain everything He made.
Psalm 104 reads like a guided tour through creation. From the heights of mountains to the depths of oceans, from the movements of celestial bodies to the activities of tiny creatures, this psalm shows us a God who not only created everything but actively sustains it.
Many people know Genesis 1 tells the story of how God created the world. But Psalm 104 does something different. It shows us that God didn’t just create and walk away. He’s still involved. Every breath you take, every sunrise you witness, every meal you eat—they all depend on His continuous care.
The psalmist wrote this with a sense of wonder that’s often missing from our modern lives. We flip light switches without thinking about energy. We open refrigerators without considering where food comes from. We check weather apps without marveling at the precision of atmospheric systems.
Psalm 104 invites us to see differently. Through its verses, we discover that the natural world isn’t just background scenery for human activity. It’s a revelation of who God is and how He works.
The Structure of God’s Creation (Verses 1-9)
The psalm opens with praise: “Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.”
Right away, the psalmist establishes something crucial. The God who made everything is worthy of our highest praise. Then he describes creation in a specific order that echoes Genesis but with more poetic detail.
God wraps Himself in light like a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His upper chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds His messengers and flames of fire His servants.
These aren’t just beautiful images. They reveal God’s authority over elements that ancient peoples often worshiped as gods themselves—sun, sky, wind, fire, water. The psalmist declares that these powerful forces are actually God’s servants, doing His bidding.
Then comes a critical verse: “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.”
This speaks to God’s establishing of order. He didn’t create chaos. He created a world with structure, reliability, and purpose. The earth functions according to laws He established. Day follows night. Seasons come in sequence. Water flows downhill. These aren’t accidents—they’re evidence of intelligent design.
Water: The Gift That Sustains (Verses 10-13)
After establishing the structure of creation, the psalm focuses on water. This makes sense. Water is essential for life, and the psalmist wants us to see God’s provision in it.
“He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.”
Notice the specificity. God doesn’t just create water in general. He makes springs flow in ravines where animals can drink. He provides for wild donkeys—creatures that most people in ancient Israel would never care about or even see.
This detail matters. God’s care extends beyond humanity. He tends to every part of His creation.
The passage continues: “The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.”
God doesn’t just provide water at ground level. He sends rain from above, watering even the mountains where springs can’t reach. The result? The land is satisfied. Not barely sustained—satisfied. God provides abundantly.
Food: The Daily Provision (Verses 14-18)
From water, the psalm moves to food. Again, the detail is remarkable.
“He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.”
God provides for both animals and people. Grass for cattle. Crops for humans to grow. And not just bland sustenance—He provides wine that brings gladness, oil that nourishes, bread that strengthens.
This reveals something beautiful about God’s character. He doesn’t give us the bare minimum. He gives us variety, flavor, and even things that bring joy. Food isn’t just functional in God’s design—it’s meant to be enjoyed.
The psalm then describes how even the trees of the Lord are well-watered—the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. Birds nest in them. Storks make their homes in the junipers. The mountains belong to wild goats. The crags are refuges for rock badgers.
Every creature has what it needs. Every plant has its place. Nothing is overlooked in God’s provision.
Time: The Gift of Order (Verses 19-23)
Next comes a section about time and seasons.
“He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.”
God established rhythms. The moon tracks seasons. The sun sets on schedule. Night arrives predictably. These aren’t random occurrences—they’re part of God’s ordered creation.
The psalm notes how different creatures are active at different times. Lions roar at night, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they retreat to their dens. Then people go out to their work and labor until evening.
This daily rhythm of activity and rest, of different creatures operating at different times, shows God’s wisdom in design. There’s space for everyone. There’s time for everything.
The Sea: Mystery and Abundance (Verses 24-26)
The psalmist then turns his attention to the sea, and his sense of wonder intensifies.
“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.”
The sea represented mystery and danger to ancient peoples. Yet the psalmist sees it as another expression of God’s creativity. It teems with creatures beyond counting. Even Leviathan—a creature so powerful it appears in other biblical texts as a symbol of chaos—is here described as something God made to frolic, to play.
This is remarkable. The psalmist doesn’t see the sea as a threat that God barely controls. He sees it as a playground that God filled with diverse life for His own delight.
The Central Truth: Continuous Dependence (Verses 27-30)
After touring through creation, the psalm arrives at its core message.
“All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.”
Every living thing depends on God. Not just at the moment of creation, but every single day. Every meal. Every breath.
When God provides, creatures are satisfied. When He withholds, they perish. When He sends His Spirit, life is renewed. The cycle of life and death, of seasons changing and new growth appearing—all of it depends on God’s active involvement.
This shatters the deist idea of a God who wound up the universe like a clock and then stepped back to watch it run. The God of Psalm 104 is intimately, constantly, necessarily involved in sustaining what He made.
The Proper Response (Verses 31-35)
The psalm concludes with worship and a desire for God’s pleasure.
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.”
The psalmist wants God to be pleased with His creation. He wants God to rejoice in what He’s made. And he commits to his own response: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”
Then comes an interesting request: “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”
The psalmist has spent this entire song meditating on creation. Now he hopes this meditation pleases God. He’s discovered that thinking deeply about what God has made leads to deeper worship of God Himself.
The psalm ends with a desire for sin to be removed from the earth and for the wicked to be no more. This isn’t vindictive—it’s a longing for creation to function as God intended, without the corruption that sin brings.
What Psalm 104 Teaches Us Today
Most of us live disconnected from the natural world in ways the psalmist couldn’t imagine. We buy food from stores without thinking about soil, rain, or seasons. We control indoor temperatures regardless of outside weather. We use artificial light to extend our days past sunset.
Psalm 104 calls us back to something we’ve lost—a recognition that we’re not as independent as we think.
Your life depends on systems you didn’t create and can’t control. The oxygen you breathe comes from plants you didn’t make. The water you drink follows a cycle you can’t command. The food you eat grows from soil enriched by processes that began long before you were born.
Behind all of it, Psalm 104 says, is God. Not just as the original Creator, but as the ongoing Sustainer.
This has practical implications. If God cares enough to provide for wild donkeys and rock badgers, He certainly cares about you. If He’s been faithful in sustaining the cycles of nature for thousands of years, He can be trusted with your daily needs.
But there’s also a warning here. When God hides His face or takes away His breath, life ends. Our existence isn’t automatic. It’s a gift renewed every moment by God’s gracious choice to sustain us.
The right response is the psalmist’s response—worship. Not just on Sundays or during prayer times, but as a way of seeing the world. Every meal becomes a reminder of God’s provision. Every sunrise confirms His faithfulness. Every breath testifies to His sustaining power.
Psalm 104 doesn’t just tell us God created everything. It shows us that creation itself is an ongoing revelation of who God is—powerful enough to establish order, wise enough to sustain complexity, generous enough to provide abundantly, and caring enough to tend to every detail.
The question is whether we’ll live with our eyes open to it.
Psalm 104 Meaning: God as Creator and Sustainer of Life
Psalm 104 is a creation psalm that celebrates God as both Creator and Sustainer of all life. Unlike Genesis which focuses on the act of creation, Psalm 104 emphasizes God’s ongoing care—showing how He continually provides water, food, and order to sustain everything He made.
Psalm 104 reads like a guided tour through creation. From the heights of mountains to the depths of oceans, from the movements of celestial bodies to the activities of tiny creatures, this psalm shows us a God who not only created everything but actively sustains it.
Many people know Genesis 1 tells the story of how God created the world. But Psalm 104 does something different. It shows us that God didn’t just create and walk away. He’s still involved. Every breath you take, every sunrise you witness, every meal you eat—they all depend on His continuous care.
The psalmist wrote this with a sense of wonder that’s often missing from our modern lives. We flip light switches without thinking about energy. We open refrigerators without considering where food comes from. We check weather apps without marveling at the precision of atmospheric systems.
Psalm 104 invites us to see differently. Through its verses, we discover that the natural world isn’t just background scenery for human activity. It’s a revelation of who God is and how He works.
The Structure of God’s Creation (Verses 1-9)
The psalm opens with praise: “Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.”
Right away, the psalmist establishes something crucial. The God who made everything is worthy of our highest praise. Then he describes creation in a specific order that echoes Genesis but with more poetic detail.
God wraps Himself in light like a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His upper chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds His messengers and flames of fire His servants.
These aren’t just beautiful images. They reveal God’s authority over elements that ancient peoples often worshiped as gods themselves—sun, sky, wind, fire, water. The psalmist declares that these powerful forces are actually God’s servants, doing His bidding.
Then comes a critical verse: “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.”
This speaks to God’s establishing of order. He didn’t create chaos. He created a world with structure, reliability, and purpose. The earth functions according to laws He established. Day follows night. Seasons come in sequence. Water flows downhill. These aren’t accidents—they’re evidence of intelligent design.
Water: The Gift That Sustains (Verses 10-13)
After establishing the structure of creation, the psalm focuses on water. This makes sense. Water is essential for life, and the psalmist wants us to see God’s provision in it.
“He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.”
Notice the specificity. God doesn’t just create water in general. He makes springs flow in ravines where animals can drink. He provides for wild donkeys—creatures that most people in ancient Israel would never care about or even see.
This detail matters. God’s care extends beyond humanity. He tends to every part of His creation.
The passage continues: “The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.”
God doesn’t just provide water at ground level. He sends rain from above, watering even the mountains where springs can’t reach. The result? The land is satisfied. Not barely sustained—satisfied. God provides abundantly.
Food: The Daily Provision (Verses 14-18)
From water, the psalm moves to food. Again, the detail is remarkable.
“He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.”
God provides for both animals and people. Grass for cattle. Crops for humans to grow. And not just bland sustenance—He provides wine that brings gladness, oil that nourishes, bread that strengthens.
This reveals something beautiful about God’s character. He doesn’t give us the bare minimum. He gives us variety, flavor, and even things that bring joy. Food isn’t just functional in God’s design—it’s meant to be enjoyed.
The psalm then describes how even the trees of the Lord are well-watered—the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. Birds nest in them. Storks make their homes in the junipers. The mountains belong to wild goats. The crags are refuges for rock badgers.
Every creature has what it needs. Every plant has its place. Nothing is overlooked in God’s provision.
Time: The Gift of Order (Verses 19-23)
Next comes a section about time and seasons.
“He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.”
God established rhythms. The moon tracks seasons. The sun sets on schedule. Night arrives predictably. These aren’t random occurrences—they’re part of God’s ordered creation.
The psalm notes how different creatures are active at different times. Lions roar at night, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they retreat to their dens. Then people go out to their work and labor until evening.
This daily rhythm of activity and rest, of different creatures operating at different times, shows God’s wisdom in design. There’s space for everyone. There’s time for everything.
The Sea: Mystery and Abundance (Verses 24-26)
The psalmist then turns his attention to the sea, and his sense of wonder intensifies.
“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.”
The sea represented mystery and danger to ancient peoples. Yet the psalmist sees it as another expression of God’s creativity. It teems with creatures beyond counting. Even Leviathan—a creature so powerful it appears in other biblical texts as a symbol of chaos—is here described as something God made to frolic, to play.
This is remarkable. The psalmist doesn’t see the sea as a threat that God barely controls. He sees it as a playground that God filled with diverse life for His own delight.
The Central Truth: Continuous Dependence (Verses 27-30)
After touring through creation, the psalm arrives at its core message.
“All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.”
Every living thing depends on God. Not just at the moment of creation, but every single day. Every meal. Every breath.
When God provides, creatures are satisfied. When He withholds, they perish. When He sends His Spirit, life is renewed. The cycle of life and death, of seasons changing and new growth appearing—all of it depends on God’s active involvement.
This shatters the deist idea of a God who wound up the universe like a clock and then stepped back to watch it run. The God of Psalm 104 is intimately, constantly, necessarily involved in sustaining what He made.
The Proper Response (Verses 31-35)
The psalm concludes with worship and a desire for God’s pleasure.
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.”
The psalmist wants God to be pleased with His creation. He wants God to rejoice in what He’s made. And he commits to his own response: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”
Then comes an interesting request: “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”
The psalmist has spent this entire song meditating on creation. Now he hopes this meditation pleases God. He’s discovered that thinking deeply about what God has made leads to deeper worship of God Himself.
The psalm ends with a desire for sin to be removed from the earth and for the wicked to be no more. This isn’t vindictive—it’s a longing for creation to function as God intended, without the corruption that sin brings.
What Psalm 104 Teaches Us Today
Most of us live disconnected from the natural world in ways the psalmist couldn’t imagine. We buy food from stores without thinking about soil, rain, or seasons. We control indoor temperatures regardless of outside weather. We use artificial light to extend our days past sunset.
Psalm 104 calls us back to something we’ve lost—a recognition that we’re not as independent as we think.
Your life depends on systems you didn’t create and can’t control. The oxygen you breathe comes from plants you didn’t make. The water you drink follows a cycle you can’t command. The food you eat grows from soil enriched by processes that began long before you were born.
Behind all of it, Psalm 104 says, is God. Not just as the original Creator, but as the ongoing Sustainer.
This has practical implications. If God cares enough to provide for wild donkeys and rock badgers, He certainly cares about you. If He’s been faithful in sustaining the cycles of nature for thousands of years, He can be trusted with your daily needs.
But there’s also a warning here. When God hides His face or takes away His breath, life ends. Our existence isn’t automatic. It’s a gift renewed every moment by God’s gracious choice to sustain us.
The right response is the psalmist’s response—worship. Not just on Sundays or during prayer times, but as a way of seeing the world. Every meal becomes a reminder of God’s provision. Every sunrise confirms His faithfulness. Every breath testifies to His sustaining power.
Psalm 104 doesn’t just tell us God created everything. It shows us that creation itself is an ongoing revelation of who God is—powerful enough to establish order, wise enough to sustain complexity, generous enough to provide abundantly, and caring enough to tend to every detail.
The question is whether we’ll live with our eyes open to it.
Olivia Clarke
I’m Olivia Clarke, a Bible teacher and writer passionate about helping others connect deeply with God’s Word. Through each piece I write, my heart is to encourage, equip, and remind you of the hope and truth we have in Christ.
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